


anyway, here's wonderwall

by immen_sity



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Banter, Domestic Fluff, Drabble, Established Relationship, F/M, Ficlet, Fluff, Guitars, Singing Barba, Some Humor, Song: Wonderwall (Oasis)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:48:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27698525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immen_sity/pseuds/immen_sity
Summary: It's a slow day at SVU. Olivia learns that court isn't the only thing that Barba excels at.
Relationships: Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr./Amanda Rollins, Rafael Barba/Olivia Benson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 51





	anyway, here's wonderwall

**Author's Note:**

> in honour of Raul returning to SVU this season, as tweeted by Ice T,(https://twitter.com/FINALLEVEL/status/1331623490647187457?s=20), here's a ficlet that came to me randomly today. (Barba singing is an *endlessly* appealing idea to me.)
> 
> also just wanted to say thank you again for the warm welcome to the Barson world and the lovely comments and kudos <3
> 
> Barson with mentions of Rollisi.

"Stoppppp, Carisi," Amanda whined as she attempted to plug her ears with tissue.

"You were the one who encouraged me to pick up a new hobby in the first place!" he retorted, maintaining his firm grip on the acoustic guitar when Amanda reached for it.

"NOT when the only song you can play is _Wonderwall_."

"The chords are easy! It's the perfect song for beginner players. Not like we have much else to do anyway."

Amanda had to admit that Sonny was right. It'd been a slow few days at SVU. She was grateful for the downtime to get some paperwork done and actually head home at a decent hour, but Sonny's musical pursuits drove her up the wall. If he wasn’t fumbling over the chord changes or pressing the wrong strings, he was messing up the strum pattern or croaking out the lyrics (out-of-tune).

"What's all this ruckus? Carisi, why are you holding a guitar?" Sonny turned around as Olivia walked through the glass doors of the precinct, coffee cup in hand.

"Got a second-hand one from Guitar Center. Thought it'd be fun to have one around when there isn't much to do."

"The only song he can play is _Wonderwall_ , and no, his singing isn't much better." Amanda rolled her eyes. "He's been doing this all day at home too!"

Olivia didn't hide her hatred for the Oasis song, which was a radio staple back when she was an officer. It brought her back to days of stale, cold coffee, miserable winter days patrolling the city, and a squad car that smelled suspiciously of vomit no matter how much she and her partner scrubbed the seats. "Play in the break room, Carisi." He didn't protest. Sonny grabbed the guitar case and headed to the break room to continue his attempts at mastering the C chord.

Olivia settled in her office, shut the door, and opened her laptop. It looked like another slow day, and she was determined to finish her paperwork and meet Rafael for lunch. Often she didn't listen to music just in case someone knocked on her door and she wouldn't be able to hear them, but today seemed like the perfect day to put some headphones in. She opened Spotify, found a jazz playlist, and put it on shuffle, hoping it'd erase Carisi's terrible cover from her ears. It worked, and she cleared an astonishing amount of paperwork in the first hour alone.

Three piles of forms and a few typed reports later, she glanced at the clock and gasped. It was already 1.10pm - she was supposed to have lunch with Rafael at 1. _Odd that he isn’t here yet. He said he’d meet me in the precinct, and is never late for lunch._ She put her headphones down and opened her office door. No sign of him in the squad room. But neither were there signs of anyone else. Amanda, Carisi and Fin should have been back from their break by then.

There was, however, noise coming from the break room - Sonny’s laugh, more strumming, Amanda exclaiming something she couldn’t make out, and _was that singing?_ Olivia strutted across the squad room and burst through the break room doorway, only to find...

Rafael Barba perched on one of the tables, guitar on his lap, jacket off and sleeves rolled up (Olivia's favourite look of his), halfway through an earnest cover of _Wonderwall_ like it was the easiest thing in the world. He strummed effortlessly and in time, and his resonant tenor voice soared through the room, breathing new life into one of Olivia’s top 10 most hated songs. 

Sonny was the first to notice Olivia in the doorway. “Lieu...” Everyone paused and turned to stare at her.

“Barba... seriously?” She wasn’t sure if she looked surprised, horrified or amused. Four months of dating and he’d never told her that he played the guitar. Or sang like an angel. She also hated that the first song she’d ever heard him sing was fucking _Wonderwall._

Amanda was the first to chime in. “Barba, I’m going to need you to give Carisi some lessons so he can move on to better songs."

“Yes! Even better than shadowing you at court. I’ll pay you. Or help you with your paperwork,” Sonny added enthusiastically, leading Amanda to gently slap his arm. Rafael flashed him a smug grin and handed the guitar back to him. Sensing that he wanted to talk to the person he’d come to the precinct to see, Fin, Amanda, and Sonny quietly backed out of the room, Amanda throwing Olivia a quick wink as she left.

“Counselor... why were you serenading my entire squad?"

"I walked in and heard Carisi playing - I mean, _trying to play_ \- and thought that I would provide a live demonstration of **exemplary** guitar and vocal techniques."

Still too taken aback to generate a witty response, she took his hand and led him out of the squad room. "I can't believe you said no to karaoke night at Forlini's when you've been hiding all this talent! And why haven't you ever played or sung for me?" she pouted.

"I don't sing for just anybody, you know," he said dramatically, eliciting an eye roll from her.

"You're officially on bedtime song duty for Noah. No protests."

"Can I choose the songs, at least?"

"Fine."

"That, I can get behind," he winked, as they strolled to a nearby bistro for lunch.

That evening, she lay in bed, eavesdropping on the man she loved as he serenaded her confused son with a stirring rendition of _Wonderwall_.


End file.
